Poetry and Tea

I’m not sure why poetry and tea pair so well together. Truth be told, there isn’t much that tea doesn’t pair well with in our home. We love tea and relish the opportunity to try new teas often. We also really love poetry. So once a week, we have a time where we come together to enjoy both. 

We ask ourselves existential questions like, should the tea stand on its own or should we pair it with our poetry theme, or perhaps our dessert? And what is the meaning of our choice?

I’m kidding. We’re not usually that deep about our tea. Even though we love trying new flavors, it’s actually the aromatic, familiar favorites that appeal to us most often. We especially love different blends of “bush tea,” a Caribbean way of referring to tea made from local plants in the garden. In my culture, many of these teas have also been traditionally used as herbal remedies.

Recently, as I watched my daughter head outside to snip some lemongrass from a plant in order to prepare tea for our poetry teatime, I thought about sharing two things with you: a simple recipe for one of our favorite teas and a list of poetry books we enjoy.  

First, the recipe.

If you don’t have lemongrass (also known as fever grass) growing in your garden, you might be able to find some at a local, ethnic food market. Or, try purchasing cut, dried leaves like these.

Recipe for Ginger Lemongrass Tea

Ingredients:

• ½ cup of lemongrass (cleaned and roughly chopped)
• 2 tablespoons ginger (cleaned and chopped)
• 4 cups water
• Honey to taste

Instructions:

Bring the water to a boil over high heat in a medium saucepan. Add the lemongrass and ginger and boil for 5 minutes. Then, lower the heat and let it simmer for another 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and strain the tea. Add honey and enjoy!

Now, the books.

I am frequently asked about book lists, favorite books, or what books I am reading with the kids. I usually put titles that appear on my social media pages, here in my Amazon store. But to be honest, I haven’t mentioned it much, and I’m not sure whether or not people even know the store exists. So you might find some of these same titles there.

All of these books are ones that are part of our home library, and that my children and I read regularly. Sometimes, if we are studying a particular historical time period or a particular topic, we will read poetry that goes along with that. We make use of our local library and online sources to find fitting poetry books.

However, I would say that for the most part, our poetry teatimes are more of a free-for-all where each person participating chooses a poem (or poems) that they want to share from what we have at home.

I usually don’t put out all of these books at once, as that can be a bit overwhelming. Sometimes, my kids know in advance the poems they want to share and they just go grab the book they need from the shelf themselves. Or, everyone spends time looking and choosing from the pile on the table before we officially begin.

As a note, the only thing that makes it official is the sound of the plate holding the teatime treat, hitting the table! 

Some of our poetry books are anthologies or collections. Others are picture book stories that either include verse or are written completely in verse. These are not the only poems or poetry books that we enjoy, but they genuinely are many of our favorites. 

A Year of Nature Poems by Joseph Coelho and Kelly Loise Judd

Aneesa Lee and the Weaver’s Gift   

Bravo! By Margarita Engle

Bronzeville Boys and Girls by  Gwendolyn Brooks

Brown Honey in Broomwheat Tea

A Child’s Book of Poems by Gyo Fujikawa  

Daniel Finds a Poem by Micha Archer

The Earth Under Sky Bear’s Feet by Joseph Bruchac

Everything Comes Next by Naomi Shihab Nye

Falling Up by Shel Silverstein

From a Child’s Heart by Nikki Grimes

Gladiola Garden by Effie Lee Newsome

Golden Slippers by Arna Bontemps (out of print but you can read it here.)

Grandfathers by Nikki Giovanni

I Remember: Poems and Pictures of Heritage, compiled by Lee Bennett Hopkins

I, Too, Sing America by Catherine Clinton

Kiyoshi’s Walk by Mark Karlins

The Llama Who Had No Pajama

Night on Neighborhood Street by Eloise Greenfield

One Last Word by Nikki Grimes

Out of Wonder: Poems Celebrating Poets by Kwame Alexander

Switching on the Moon, collected by Jane Yolen and Andrew Peters

The One Thing You’d Save by Linda Sue Park

The Sun is So Quiet by Nikki Giovanni

That is My Dream by Langston Hughes and Daniel Miyares

When the Snow Falls by Linda Booth Sweeney

The Women Who Caught the Babies by Eloise Greenfield 

I would love to hear about favorite poetry books or tea recipes that you love in your family!

*Disclosure: As an Amazon Associate, I earn commissions from qualifying purchases of books and other products mentioned on this blog using these links, at no additional cost to you. I appreciate your support!